Power-law scaling in dimension-to-biomass relationship of fish schools

JOURNAL OF THEORETICAL BIOLOGY

卷:235

Article

Niwa, HS

关键词: power-law scaling;    data collapse;    pelagic fish;    school size;    geometry;   

DOI  :  10.1016/j.jtbi.2005.01.022

来源: Elsevier

【 摘 要 】

Motivated by the finding that there is some biological universality in the relationship between school geometry and school biomass of various pelagic fishes in various conditions, I here establish a scaling law for school dimensions: the school diameter increases as a power-law function of school biomass. The power-law exponent is extracted through the data collapse, and is close to 3/5. This value of the exponent implies that the mean packing density decreases as the school biomass increases, and the packing structure displays a mass-fractal dimension of 5/3. By exploiting an analogy between school geometry and polymer chain statistics, I examine the behavioral algorithm governing the swollen conformation of large-sized schools of pelagics, and I explain the value of the exponent. (c) 2005 Elsevier Ltd, All rights reserved.

【 授权许可】

Free